Poverty has many faces and poverty reduction many pathways in different contexts. Lack of food and income interact with lack of access to water, energy, protection from floods, voice, rights and recognition. Among the pathways by which agricultural research can increase rural prosperity, integrated natural resource management deals with a complex nexus of issues, with tradeoffs among issues that are in various stages of denial, recognition, analysis, innovation, scenario synthesis and creation of platforms for (policy) change. Rather than on a portfolio of externally developed ‘solutions’ ready for adoption and use, the concept of sustainable development may primarily hinge on the strengths and weaknesses of local communities to observe, analyse, innovate, connect, organize collective action and become part of wider coalitions. ‘Boundary work’ supporting such efforts can help resolve issues in a polycentric governance context, especially where incomplete understanding and knowledge prevent potential win-win alternatives to current lose-lose conflicts to emerge. Integrated research-development approaches deal with context (‘theory of place’) and options (‘theory of change’) in multiple ways that vary from selecting sites for studying pre-defined issues to starting from whatever issue deserves prominence in a given location of interest. A knowledge-to-action linkage typology recognizes three situations of increasing complexity. In Type I more knowledge can directly lead to action by a single decision maker; in Type II more knowledge can inform tradeoff decisions, while in Type III negotiation support of multiple knowledge + multiple decision maker settings deals with a higher level of complexity. Current impact quantification can deal with the first, is challenged in the second and inadequate in the third case, dealing with complex social-ecological systems. Impact-oriented funding may focus on Type I and miss the opportunities for the larger ultimate impact of Type II and III involvements.
Tag: gender relations
Economic crisis, farming systems, and forest cover change in the humid forest zone of Cameroon
The rate of forest clearing by small farmers in the humid forest zone (HFZ) of Cameroon increased significantly in a period of economic crisis dating from 1986. A random sample survey of 648 households was conducted in 54 villages in the HFZ to understand the effect of the crisis and of a 1996 currency devaluation on the practices of small farmers, and the effect of these practices on forest cover change. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) the balance between export crop and food crop production; (2) the degree of market-orientation of food crop production; and (3) the gender division of labour. The key results are: (1) the area of cocoa production has stagnated while that of coffee, plantain and other food crops has tended to increase; (2) food crop production is now more market-oriented; and (3) more men are now far more involved in food crop production than in the past. The results corroborate other studies showing that increased deforestation in the HFZ is largely a product of these three factors and also of: increased rural population, partly resulting from urban-rural migration; decline of food imports and corresponding increase in food crop production; decreased government subsidies for agricultural inputs; and increased logging. The study concludes that: (1) macroeconomic instability can lead to unforeseen and grave consequences not only for the well-being of farmers but also for efforts to protect remaining tropical forests: and (2) crop diversification might be one way to help avert future income shocks to farmers and minimise forest clearing activity.
Gender and Forests: Climate Change, Tenure, Value Chains and Emerging Issues
This enlightening book brings together the work of gender and forestry specialists from various backgrounds and fields of research and action to analyse global gender conditions as related to forests. Using a variety of methods and approaches, they build on a spectrum of theoretical perspectives to bring depth and breadth to the relevant issues and address timely and under-studied themes.
Focusing particularly on tropical forests, the book presents both local case studies and global comparative studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as the US and Europe. The studies range from personal histories of elderly American women’s attitudes toward conservation, to a combined qualitative / quantitative international comparative study on REDD+, to a longitudinal examination of oil palm and gender roles over time in Kalimantan. Issues are examined across scales, from the household to the nation state and the global arena; and reach back to the past to inform present and future considerations.
The collection will be of relevance to academics, researchers, policy makers and advocates with different levels of familiarity with gender issues in the field of forestry.